Hey everybody!
Sorry for the wait but it was one humdinger of a family reunion. When we told the guards at the U.S. border that we were going to the family reunion in Maine they even knew what it was and commented that it must be a pretty huge family.
When I got there, there were at least fifty people there and the party hadn't even started yet. I found that I have too many cousins to count and there are at least five doctors.
Every time I looked around I saw new people at the party. One thing that I found that we all had in common was our appetite. Everyone was served a 5-pound lobster and a huge grilled steak however you wanted it. There were hordeurves of steamed clams, a buffe table of food for starters, and huge amounts of deserts.
There was even a hired band that played. I was nuts. I also found that many of my cousins are Marvel and DC fans.
This last week I have not been able to update because of my volunteering to help run VBS (vacation bible school) for my church. We had over fifty kids attend and it went off great. I can't wait until the next VBS next year. Besides all of that it took me one heck of a long time to write this.
Any way, enough of my banter and on with the fanfiction.
CHAPTER SEVEN
One hour after the alarming event in the infirmary every one in the Watchtower were deep in search for any information that might help the new Batman, whether it was to find Death or to gain information on the hateful device in his leg.
Five minutes after she had left the infirmary Wonder Woman sat in the Watchtower's communications room. She had just cut a link between her and one of the many informants that she had contacted in the past hour. In the darkness of the room she thought about what was occurring just two floors below.
She thought of what the new Batman must be going through. She had mercifully never had to experience anything even remotely like what he was now. She thought about all of her abilities and how they protected her from such things. She thought about how it must feel to go out into the world of the criminal and fight in it without the aid of any special abilities.
That was something that she had always admired Batman for, past and present. They had no special abilities or powers, the only thing that has always protected them were their minds and their ability to think steps ahead of anyone else.
She remembered a time when the original Batman, Bruce, had seemingly bit off more than he could chew. It had been one of those times when the Injustice Gang had challenged the Justice League. She remembered the fight in the museum. 'The fight had just started to go in our favor' she thought.
Then the shade had used his darkness to let the Gang escape. They searched for any of the Gang left and found Copperhead and were elated. Until they found Batman down, blood smeared and shivering from poison. A 'snake bite'.
She hadn't thought that he would recover from it, but she had forgotten one thing that defined 'Batman', his determination. He had recovered in no time and amazed everyone and not to long from that he saved all our tails and managed to arrange the capture of the entire Gang.
She leaned back and sighed, thinking of the new Bat. Even in the state that he was in she had no doubt that he would amaze them all with his recovery and determination to get back into the action, just like Bruce had so many times in the past.
She turned back to the communications screen and decided she could try at least one more contact.
The Flash was now on the Earth searching every place that he could think of to see if he could pick up on any sign of where the hit man Death might be. He had begun to search right after he witnessed the new Batman's agony in the infirmary. He had thought that the first time he saw him, when Superman had brought him in, that he was in bad shape.
He had seen just how bad he was in the infirmary when he had been there to see Superman, an old man and a girl he didn't know remove his costume. He couldn't believe that the guy was still alive. When the mask was taken off and he realized that the new Bat was a kid he had almost feinted with the surprise. The Flash had always thought of himself as a young superhero but Batman was at least five years his junior.
He had heard stories of the new Batman of Gotham and couldn't believe that it was this kid that had made such a difference in that crime-ridden city. He had also heard stories of the original Bat.
Mostly from J'onn and Superman who, to the Flash, were the best superheroes ever and he didn't think that their was anyone that could best them. But from their stories he could tell that they admired the Batman and at some points almost feared him to some extent.
The old man that he had seen in the room with the new Bat, as J'onn informed him, was the original. He hadn't thought it possible until he looked at the guy's eyes after he left the infirmary an hour earlier. He had been frightened enough by the look in those eyes that he immediately jumped to high speed without even thinking.
He knew at that moment why Superman and J'onn had been intimidated, this guy was scary. He idly wondered if the kid was anything like the old Bat and thought that if he were he would be back on his feet and into the fray before anyone knew it. The Flash had thought of all this in less than a second.
He was now searching another abandon warehouse in Gotham and realized that it was the last one and he had found nothing. So he decided to go back to the Watchtower and check up on the others.
J'onn for the last hour had been taking scans and adjusting apparatuses to keep Terry's vitals steady while trying to maneuver around Max who had not moved from the bedside. This had kept him busy for the hour and all he had thought about was how similar and how utterly different the two bats were when he was interrupted by the doors to the infirmary flying open and the intense thoughts of determination that he knew so well enter the room.
Bruce for the last 55 minutes had been in the main computer room of the Watchtower searching furiously for anything that would lead him to Death. Superman was hovering behind his friend watching the man work. Bruce had searched every database that he could think of and was getting nowhere.
Bruce slammed his fists down on the control panel in frustration and felt like he could scream.
Clark knowing better than to say anything to his frustrated friend, just watched in sympathy, although he wasn't sure whom he felt the sympathy for. Whether it was for Terry's pain, Bruce's frustration or for Death and what would happen to him when Bruce got a hold of him.
If Clark had learned one thing from his friendship with Bruce/Batman it was that you do not mess with the Bat family. Bruce turned to the screen on his left and reread the information on the unknown device that he had been supplied to them by J'onn's scans. He couldn't find any way to remove it without risk to Terry.
Then it came to him.
"How could I have been so blind?!" he practically howled from the sheer blatancy of the answer. Bruce almost jumped out of his chair and flew out the door and down the hall before superman even clued into the fact that his friend had moved. He quickly followed Bruce to his destination.
The infirmary.
End Of Chapter
The rest is another note from the Author, me!
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Cycke!!! Sorry I just couldn't resist, please don't kill me. Read on and see what Bruce has come up with.
"J'onn can you make objects other than yourself immaterial?" asked Bruce harshly to the Martian.
"Yes, Bruce, I have found that I can make things immaterial along with my body," replied J'onn. "I did not think it a wise choice as an alternative way to attempt to extract the device. We had no idea of what it could do," said J'onn getting the meaning to Bruce's question.
"What?! Don't you have enough information now on what it does?" Max almost hollered as she gestured at Terry and Superman caught the sight of a single tear make its way past all of her attempts to hold it back.
J'onn nodded solemnly to Bruce and Max and made his way towards Terry who Max was now stroking the side of his head and holding his hand. As J'onn approached she looked up but didn't stop what she was doing.
J'onn moved to Terry's left side and moved over to the part of the leg where the device was located. He prayed to himself that the device did not have a safety mechanism that would do the boy any more harm. He paused to concentrate then made himself immaterial and reached his hand into Terry's leg.
He reached his hand around the device and concentrated on the metallic object in his grasp. As he phased the object and started to remove it he felt a slight tingle coming from it. He had pulled it almost half way out when the tingle became a vibration.
This only made him pull it out faster and he closed his fist around it as he brought it back to solidity.
"Oh my word. That was in Terry?" This was Max's reaction to seeing the appearance of the thing that had caused her Boyfriend so much pain. It had seven spikes coming from it. As soon as he had the device in his sights he turned away from Terry and toward Superman and Bruce who were watching intently.
"Here is the device that was in his leg. It is emitting a low vibration, which started as I removed it from Terry," stated the Martian.
Superman walked to J'onn and took the device from him knowing that he was the one who should be handling it in case it had a failsafe mechanism that was going to activate. He looked at it closely for a moment with his x-ray vision, determined that it was safe for the moment and then handed it over to Bruce.
He eyed it and thought of something. "I'm headed for the science lab and you're coming with me," he said to Superman. Bruce then headed out of the room with is confused companion.
"Where is he off to, shouldn't he be here if he wakes up?" inquired Wonder Woman, who had entered the room just after J'onn started to remove the device. "You'd think that he would want to be here."
"I'm sure that Bruce has a very good reason for not being here. I'm sure that only something of great importance could take him out of this room." The Martian then walked over to Terry's form and checked the monitors and then he and Diana left to leave Terry under Max's guard.
Else where:
Blip. Blip. Blip.
Death was in his acquired office where he had been for the last seven hours. He was thinking to himself on his next attempt at the lives of the witnesses that he had been hired to kill when the screen to his left started to pick up a signal.
He turned and stroked a few keys on his console and smiled despite himself. The signal was coming from the electrical surge device that he had tagged Batman with. He had known that the Bat had not perished that night because he had kept track of him with the homing beacon in the ESD.
He had not gone after the Bat because he had not been paid too. He had, though kept track of him for future reference; one reason was because he still wanted to test the Bat's skills to a more thorough extent, if he lived from his injuries. The second was so he could tell if he would be given any more trouble from him.
Death had stopped watching the monitor after the first day and set the computer to monitor instead and to signal if anything changed. The morning of the second day his computer had informed him that the Bat had left Earth.
This intrigued him to learn that he had gone to the Watchtower. He made a mental note to increase his surveillance incase he received any unwanted attention from the JLU. This signal however was one of a different kind. This one signaled that Batman had removed the ESD and someone was testing it.
This time he knew he would be having company soon. He turned to his main console and typed in an address.
Powers appeared on the screen. "I will have to delay the infiltration of the safe house and my rates have just gone up," Death said without any greeting.
"Why?" asked Powers in a too calm voice.
"I will shortly have to deal with some uninvited guests. It seems that Batman has made it to the JLU Watchtower and they are tracking a signal back to my position," Death said in response.
"I knew it was too easy," seethed Powers. "Alright. I accept your terms under the circumstances; do what you have to do to get rid of them and Batman. Get rid of him and you will be paid accordingly."
"Don't fail," Powers said again as a last warning.
Death then turned off his monitor and set to prepare for his guests.
Back at the Watchtower:
"Bruce why are we headed to the science lab? I thought that you'd want to be with the kid incase he wakes up?" asked Superman.
"There's no place I'd rather be right now but I'm of no use just sitting there. Besides, if my hunch is right then I'll be able to find the mercenary that did this." Bruce then turned down the hall and into a room.
Once inside he placed the horrid device down on a workbench and ran it through a multitude of tests and when he looked at the results Superman realized what Bruce was talking about.
The vibration of the device was it transmitting that it had been removed from its host. As he watched Bruce type away at the key panel it felt like old times.
Then when he looked up he saw that Bruce had already cracked the incription code on the transmission's wavelength and was already pinpointing its destination. 'Well, maybe not exactly like old times. This time around Bruce is way ahead of his game.'
Bruce brought Clark out of his reverie, "Got it." When Clark looked up Bruce was already at the door and about to head down the hallway. Clark followed right behind him.
"Where is he?" asked Superman.
"He's in one of Paxton Powers' factories on the docks in Gotham." Bruce paused as the two passed the doors to the infirmary and looked through the small windows at Terry. He was still unconscious with Max sitting by his bedside with a basin of water slowly wiping his forehead.
Wayne noticed the look of pain on Terry's face and the slight twitching of his limbs and realized that he was having a nightmare. Bruce's determination skyrocketed 'Soon you won't have to worry about any more trouble from Death.'
The two then continued down the hall to the hanger. Bruce went straight for the Batmobile, which he had used to get to the Watchtower. Superman watched as he opened the hatch and pulled out a metal exoskeleton.
The sight shocked Superman and he flew over to Bruce's side. "It's the same one that I used to save Terry from Inque," he said to himself more than to Superman. He then hit a switch on the side of it and stepped into it.
"Bruce, doesn't this suit put a huge strain on your heart?" asked a cautious Superman.
"I've since found and relieved the suit of that problem," he said as he put on the helmet and stepped into the car. "I'm going whether you want me to or not Kent."
"I know that. That's why I'm going with you."
"Fine. Come on," said Bruce in his old Batman tone of voice as he closed the hatch of the batmobile. The engines roared to life and the hanger doors of the launch bay opened. The thrusters kicked in and the ship launched from the bay at mach speeds towards its destination in Gotham City. Superman hot on its tail.
In the Javelin:
The Flash was just initiating the command codes to enter the Watchtower when out came a black bullet with Superman flying after it. As the 'bullet' passed by him he realized that it was the batmobile.
He wondered where they could be going and then thought that if they needed his company they would have contacted him. But since they didn't he decided to see what was happening with the current situation with the new Batman.
As soon as he got out of the Javelin he zoomed to the infirmary to satisfy his curiosity. There he found Diana standing outside of the door.
"What did I miss," he asked quickly, of course, there was no other way for him. She turned to him and told him the sit rep of the last fifteen minutes and he figured out where the old Bat and Supes had gone. "I just saw the batmobile and Superman leave the tower at full speed for Earth."
"They must have found something"
"How's the kid doing?" he asked tentatively while catching a glimpse of him through the window in the door.
"He should be fine now, relatively speaking. He's a tough one. If it were anyone else they probably wouldn't have survived even this long."
"I guess that's why he's Batman and not someone else."
"hmm," was Diana's response.
An hour and a half later:
"So, is this the place?" asked Superman as he and Bruce, clad as Batman, come to an old factory building. He looked at his friend to get an answer and true to old form Bruce just nodded his head imperceptibly. Clark then turned back to the factory and was about to try and scan the structure with his x-ray vision when Bruce stopped him.
"Don't bother, these old factories were lead lined to keep in potential radiation leaks," sounded Bruce.
"Why, what are these factories used for?"
"They are parts manufacturing plants, but were used for chemical research, which I eliminated with my reintegration with Wayne/Powers."
"Oh," was all Clark could think of to say. 'He sure hasn't lost anything with age.' Then there was a moment of silence as Bruce hacked open the lock on the door to the factory and they made their way inside.
As soon as they stepped inside they took stock of the place. It was a gutted out factory with only old conveyor platforms and old crates. There were four staircases on the walls that lead to offices and an overhead catwalk that ran in a mesh pattern about forty feet up.
Bruce then motioned for Clark to go and check out two of the offices on the right and he would go and check the two on the left. As they made their way up to the offices and the catwalk, unknown to them, they were being watched from a hidden room.
Death had been preparing for his guests and was waiting silently for them to come across some of his little surprises. He watched as Superman glided up to one of the office doors as this different Batman, he figured that he had to be a stand in for the original, climbed the stairs to another office on the other side of the room.
He knew that what was in the first room had nothing that could stop Superman in it so he focused on the room Batman was headed to. He waited for Batman to open the door and enter before activating the switch for the room. As he watched he saw Batman stop almost and seem to see something. Then Batman warily entered the office Death sprung his trap.
Bruce was beginning to open the door to the office he had chosen to start with when he noticed that one of the walls although well hidden was a false wall and it looked fairly new. He paused a moment and realized that Death would have probably set traps around the factory.
He then proceeded to enter the room only with a little more caution than he would have. As he stepped into the room it was pitch black. He reached up his hand to change his viewer to night vision when a laser blast shot at him. It caught the suit full on the chest and flung Bruce back out the door and almost over the railing.
He caught himself and dove away from the doorframe. In a crouch he looked down at his suit. It had a large scorch mark right over his heart. The suit would not sustain more than one or two shots more of that magnitude.
Superman hearing the laser fire turned from his office and looked over to see Bruce being thrown almost off of the catwalk. He flew over and was about to land by his friend when a projectile came flying at his chest. He caught the round object with no difficulty and studied it. It didn't seem dangerous.
Then it started to spew gas. Superman couldn't believe that someone was actually going to try to take him out with gas. Then as the green gas enveloped him he started to feel weak and he was loosing altitude.
He then realized, with a wash of agony that the gas was not normal but was gaseous kryptonite. As he fell he dropped the projectile and he then hit the floor in a heap. Being a heavy gas it sunk and enveloped Superman once more beckoning him to unconsciousness.
Bruce hearing the crash of his partner whirled to see his long time friend crumpled on the ground surrounded in what could only be Kryptonite gas. He was about to run to his colleague when more laser fire was directed at him.
He leapt and dodged the lasers and crouched behind a conveyor platform on the floor for a chance to catch his breath. He hadn't exactly told Clark the whole truth about the suit. He had found the problem but in order for it to function properly he could only lessen the strain not get rid of it all together. Also on top of that with him being worried so much for Terry he had neglected taking his medicine and he hadn't rested much.
He stood up and shot out five batarangs. Two were meant to draw the laser fire. Two were to take the lasers out and the fifth was to hit the hidden wall he had spotted. All the batarangs hit their marks and the one that hit the wall exploded and left a gaping hole in it. Behind the wall was the figure that Bruce had come for.
"You're better than I expected, for a substitute," called Death from the shadows as he stepped through the hole. "An exoskeleton suit, ingenious. I'm almost sorry that it will be damaged it is a magnificent piece of work."
Bruce didn't reply to that, all he could think of was the last image he had seen of Terry, pain wracked and afraid, and for that Death would pay dearly. Against his better judgment Bruce lunged at Death head on.
As he suspected Death dodged the attack and came back with a cross chop that grazed the yesterknight's shoulder and sent him flipping. Bruce turned his out of control flipping into an almost graceful landing.
He spun and went at Death again, this time faking right and aiming an exploding batarang at where he suspected Death would dodge. His attempt was successful, he caught Death of balance and the projectile hit him in the shoulder. It exploded upon impact and it shot Death backwards into one of the old piles of crates where he did not move.
Bruce went cautiously over to where Death had landed. He was just able to see over the edge of the crates when Death lunged out at him. He grabbed Bruce by neck as they flew across the room.
When they landed Bruce was on the bottom. He had his hands on Death's arms trying to pry the hands away from his neck. He was horrified to find that even with the suit's strength capabilities he was unable to budge the hands. He looked down to Death's arms and saw why Death was so strong.
His arms were almost mechanical just like the thugs that gave Terry the runaround during the 'April Moon' case. Bruce then looked back up at Death. "Whose your tailor?" asked Bruce in a monotone voice not revealing he was having any problems.
"I am, do you like it?" asked Death almost placidly back. "It's going to be the death of you."
"You wont penetrate the suit."
"No, I suppose not." Death then removed one hand from Bruce's neck and began to beat down on Bruce's cowl. Each blow was like a jackhammer.
Bruce through his daze and oncoming unconsciousness moved his other hand from the arm still on his neck to his own arm and activated the distress signal in the suit; he hoped that it wouldn't be blocked by anything in the walls of the factory.
He cursed himself inwardly for being so naïve as to think that he could take down someone like Death at his age. Then nothing as a blow sent him to unconsciousness.
Death looked down at his defeated adversaries and thought about his next move. His employer had given him the new task of finishing the Bat, not the replacement in front of him but the one he had injured a few nights ago. He had also been told to get rid of any of the other heroes that may interfere. He had no problem with this of course. He always completed his tasks and he always looked forward to a challenge.
Back in the Watchtower sick bay:
It had been two hours since the device was removed from her boyfriend and she had not left the room. She just sat and watched him sleep. In her mind she felt that if she were to leave he might slip away on her. She was now asleep on the chair and draped over the edge of the bed. The lack of sleep and all of the worrying had caught up with her and dragged her into dreamland.
J'onn had been in a couple times to check on Terry's vitals. This time when he came in he saw that Maxine had fallen into a deep slumber. He took one of the blankets on another bed and draped it over her. He then left the room.
After leaving the room he headed to the galley where Wonder Woman and the Flash were. Green lantern was up in the lab trying to fix what he could of the Batsuit and Hawkman was on monitor duty.
He turned into the galley to find Diana and the Flash sitting at a table drinking ice mochas. As he entered the Flash looked up at him, "how's the kid doing?"
"He is recovering as well as can be expected. Even with the cellular regeneration and advanced medical equipment he will not be in fighting form for at least a month." The Martian sighed at his last statement and Wonder Woman caught the meaning behind it.
"But he will probably be the same as Bruce."
"That is what I am afraid of."
"What do you guys mean?" asked Flash. "We mean that even though he shouldn't even think of getting out of bed for weeks he'll probably have to be strapped to the bed as soon as he wakes up to keep him in bed," answered Wonder Woman with only a hint of sarcasm.
"You're kidding, with those injuries he won't even be able to move for a week."
"Try telling him that," said Diana.
"Speaking of stubborn old Bats, Have Supes or Bruce come back yet?" asked Flash.
"No, they have not," replied the Man Hunter. "If they needed our assistance they would call."
"I wonder where they went anyway?"
Then the PA system in the Watchtower came on and Hawkman's voice came through. "Justice League, assemble in the surveillance room."
A few seconds later all of the present members of the Justice League were in the surveillance room, staring up at the main vid screen. It had an image of a man with a skull mask and two subdued individuals. Superman and Batman.
"What do you want?" commanded Wonder Woman.
"I want the Batman. I know that this," he pointed to Bruce behind him, "is a replacement while the real Bat hides."
"Why do you want him?" asked the Man Hunter. Everyone in the room wanted to know but everyone else was too furious to say anything, but it was pretty much a rhetorical question.
"Simple, I have been given a job to do and I intend to complete it. Since you are all experienced 'heroes' I am assuming you know the drill. These two are my hostages, they will die if the Bat is not handed over to me. From his actions the night I first crossed his path I am quite confident that he would rather sacrafice himself than have others hurt because of him. Noble but foolish." He snickered for a few seconds.
"You have 12 hours to comply. I will send the coordinates to where you should bring him." Then the communication was severed.
To be continued.
A/N: So how was it? I will update as soon as I can. Talk to you later.